America’s Cup: Ineos Britannia ‘broken and knackered’ ahead of Team New Zealand series

Team New Zealand watch-on as Ineos Britannia race during the Louis Vuitton Cup.

A key member of Ineos Britannia has revealed they were “broken and knackered” by the America’s Cup challenger series win over Italy.

Days out from the bid to wrest the Auld Mug off Team New Zealand in Barcelona, Dylan Fletcher has been thrust into the spotlight as co-helmsman alongside British boss Sir Ben Ainslie.

Ainslie made a late swap by replacing Giles Scott with Fletcher, who tasted victory over TNZ’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke in the 49ers at the 2021 Olympics.

Fletcher has told the Times that Britannia’s challenger series win over Luna Rossa took a heavy toll as Ineos became the first British outfit to make the America’s Cup showdown in 60 years.

“We were pretty broken and knackered after the final,” the 36-year-old Olympic gold medallist and current Moth world champion said.

“Just so mentally tired. Some days we were bouncing below the wind limit and then we were bouncing off the top end so there was just a lot of relief at the end.”

Londoner Fletcher became a fulltime Ineos team member last year, having abandoned further Olympic 49er medal aspirations when crewmate Stuart Bithell quit.

Fletcher claimed there was no internal team angst around him replacing a disappointed Scott less than two months ago.

“It was Giles’ dream too to helm a British boat in the America’s Cup,” Fletcher said.

“He thought it was nailed on [but] said ‘Don’t worry about it’. He has been brilliant and done a fantastic job within the team, pushing us on and really making a difference.”

The Brits are hoping their tough lead-in will prove to be an advantage.

“The Kiwis are formidable opponents and they have known about the rules, the loopholes and had the extra development time,” Fletcher said.

“A lot of things are stacked in their favour, but on the other side they have not had a lot of racing experience.

“We have got a lot faster, but how much faster have they got?

“Are we sharper? Is our playbook going to stand up to their playbook in the pre-start? These are all the unknowns.”